Method for identifying multiple devices belonging to the same group

Abstract

The technologies described herein identify multiple electronic devices belonging to the same group. A computer system receives, from network accessing applications of a plurality of electronic devices, internet protocol (IP) trajectory information about the network accessing applications via a network. The IP trajectory information includes a user identifier, a list of IP addresses associated with each of the network accessing applications, and timestamps specifying times each of the network accessing applications accesses the network. The computer system identifies and removes commercial IP addresses from the list of IP addresses, analyzes IP trajectory information to retrieve a most commonly used IP address for each of the network accessing applications during a certain period, and determines that different network accessing applications belong to the same group if the most commonly used IP addresses for the different network accessing applications are the same.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for identifying multiple electronic devices belonging to a same group, the method comprising:
 receiving, from network accessing applications of a plurality of electronic devices, internet protocol (IP) trajectory information about the network accessing applications via a network, the IP trajectory information including:
 a user identifier; 
 IP address information including one or more dynamically assigned IP addresses associated with two or more respective network accessing applications of the network accessing applications; and 
 timestamp information specifying times each of the network accessing applications accesses the network; 
 
 identifying commercial IP addresses from the IP address information based on repeated connection activities, associated with a same electronic device, determined from the IP address information, wherein the identifying comprises determining that a first IP address included in the IP address information is likely a commercial IP address based on a determination that the same electronic device accessed the first IP address a threshold amount; 
 removing the commercial IP addresses from the IP address information to produce revised IP trajectory information; and 
 determining that different network accessing applications belong to the same group based on the timestamp information of the revised IP trajectory information. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  wherein at least some of the one or more dynamically assigned IP addresses comprise addresses assigned by a particular network. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2  comprising:
 identifying common patterns of changes in the IP trajectory information based on the timestamp information of the revised IP trajectory information due to dynamic IP address assignment when at least two respective network accessing applications access the network; and 
 determining that the different network accessing applications belong to the same group based on the common patterns of changes in the IP trajectory information. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3  comprising:
 determining a time duration of overlap for the revised IP trajectory information for a plurality of network accessing applications during a certain period of time; 
 determining a time duration of conflict for the revised IP trajectory information for the plurality of network accessing applications during the certain period of time; and 
 identifying the common patterns of changes in the IP trajectory information based on the time duration of overlap and the time duration of conflict. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network accessing applications comprise a web browser or a mobile application. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user identifier comprises a browser cookie, or a unique user identifier for a mobile device of the plurality of electronic devices. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electronic devices comprises portable electronic devices. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the same group comprises one or more members of a family or one or more members of a same household. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving IP trajectory information comprises receiving at least some static IP addresses along with the one or more dynamically assigned IP addresses. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1  comprising providing one or more identical advertisements to members of the same group. 
     
     
       11. A method for providing same information over a network to multiple electronic devices belonging to a same group, the method comprising:
 receiving, from network accessing applications of a plurality of electronic devices, internet protocol (IP) trajectory information about the network accessing applications via the network, the IP trajectory information including:
 a list of IP addresses associated with each of the network accessing applications, at least some IP addresses of the list of IP addresses comprising dynamically assigned IP addresses assigned by a router for a particular network; and 
 timestamps specifying times each of the network accessing applications accesses at least one network including the particular network; 
 
 identifying commercial IP addresses among the list of IP addresses based on repeated connection activities, associated with a same electronic device, determined from the IP trajectory information; and 
 removing the commercial IP addresses from the list of IP addresses to produce revised IP trajectory information. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11  comprising identifying common patterns of changes in the IP trajectory information due to dynamic IP address assignment when respective network accessing applications access the network. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12  comprising determining that different network accessing applications belong to the same group based on the common patterns of changes in the IP trajectory information. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13  comprising providing the same information to the different network accessing applications belonging to the same group via the network. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 12  wherein identifying common patterns of changes in the IP trajectory information comprises:
 determining a degree of alignment between the IP trajectory information. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15  wherein determining a degree of alignment comprises:
 determining an amount of conflict time that IP trajectory information for a first network accessing application conflicts with IP trajectory information for a second network accessing application; and 
 based on an amount of overlap time relative to the amount of conflict time, determining the degree of alignment. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 15  wherein determining a degree of alignment comprises:
 determining an amount of overlap time that IP trajectory information for a first network accessing application overlaps IP trajectory information for a second network accessing application; and 
 determining an amount of conflict time that the IP trajectory information for the first network accessing application conflicts with the IP trajectory information for the second network accessing application. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17  comprising:
 determining a ratio of the amount of overlap time to the amount of conflict time; 
 comparing the ratio to a threshold; and 
 if the ratio exceeds the threshold, determining that the first network accessing application and the second network accessing application belong to the same group. 
 
     
     
       19. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method for identifying multiple electronic devices belonging to a same group, the method comprising:
 receiving, from network accessing applications of a plurality of electronic devices, internet protocol (IP) trajectory information about the network accessing applications via a network; 
 identifying commercial IP addresses from the IP trajectory information based on repeated connection activities, associated with a same electronic device, determined from the IP trajectory information; and 
 removing the commercial IP addresses from the IP trajectory information to produce revised IP trajectory information. 
 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 19 , comprising determining that different network accessing applications belong to the same group based on timestamp information of the revised IP trajectory information.